Multiple flash lamp device



2 Sheets-Sheet'- l Oct. 18, 1949. E. B. NOEL ETAL MULTIPLE FLASH LAMP DEVICE Filed April 27, 1944 m bPx /N VENTURE: EDWARD H NOEL, AUGUST WSE/TZ, By M THE/R A TTOPNE).

Oct. 18, 1949. E. B. NOEL EI'AL MULTIPLE FLASH LAMP DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 27, 1944 l/Vl/ENTORS: EDWARD 5: NOEL, AUGUST 14 sg/rz,

' opening H and into Patented Oct. 18, was

2,485,403 MULTIPLE FLASH LAMP DEVICE Edward B.

W. Seitz,

Noel, Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Ohio, assignors and August to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 2'1, 1944, Serial No. 532,938 3 Claims. (Cl. 240-37) Our invention relates to illuminating apparatus for photographic-purposes and its principal object is to provide an apparatus of this kind capable of emitting a multiplicity of flashes of light in rapid succession to enable a photographer to take a series of pictures in a short time. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of species thereof and from the appended claims.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification a species of our invention is shown in which, Fig. 1 is a. top or plan view of a multiple flash apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with the lamp holder removed; Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the battery case of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and as seen from the side; Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a side view of the turret of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is an enlarged, sectional, elevational view of a socket useful in the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 5 and Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a lamp base insertable in the socket of Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, our multiple flash lamp apparatus or device comprises a concave reflector l such as a. parabolic reflector, having an opening i I at its vertex through which a flash lamp may be moved into and out of the reflector lo, a turret l2 having a removable lamp holder l3 on which a plurality of flash lamps It may be radially mounted with their axes in a common plane including the reflector axis and normal to the axis of rotation of the turret l2. The turret i2 is mounted on a carrier part or slide l which is mounted for reciprocation toward and away from the reflector I0 and in a path parallel to the reflector axis. The slide I5 moves along a guide or track l6 and is arranged to carry the turret l2 away from the reflector a suflicient distance to completely withdraw from the reflector In the lamp i4 enclosed thereby so that the holder l3 may be rotated to bring another lamp into position to be moved through the the reflector l0 when the slide i5 is moved back toward th reflector l0. Means described later herein are provided for causing rotation of the turret 90 degrees about its axis after a lamp M has been removed from the reflector i0. Thus, the lamps I l may be easily inserted into and removed from the reflector it in rapid sequence for being flashed in rapid succession. The means for effecting and controlling th ignition of the lamp i4 enclosed by the re flector I0 is described below.

I into and out of The reflector Hi, the guide l6 and a battery case l1 are permanently secured, as by welding, to a support member 18 which is provided with an outwardly extending arm l9 having thereon a spring clamp 20 comprising a handle 2| for ready engagement of the multiple flash apparatus with a conventional support member which may be mounted on a camera in the well-known manner.

The turret l2 comprises a shaft or spindle 22 for supporting lamp holder Hi. The spindle 22 is mounted in a bushing 23 on the slide l5, has a spring wedge 24 at its outer end and increases in diameter abruptly a substantial distance from its wedge supporting end to form a shoulder 25 against which the holder l3 rests. The holder I3 is readily removable from and mountable on the spindle 22 by depressing the spring wedge 24 which normally holds the lamp holder l3 against the shoulder 25 and moving the holder longitudinally of the spindle. The spindle 22 also has an integral disc-like part 26 provided with pins 21 equally spaced along its periphery and projecting toward slide l5. One of the pins 21 has a. part 28 extending toward and engaging with the holder iii to rotate the latter when the spindle 22 and the disc 26 is rotated by the means described below. The slide l5 has means for indexing and holding the turret l2 with one of the lamps It in position to be moved through the opening ii the reflector Ill. The said means comprises an arm 29 pivotally mounted on a pivot post 30 which is provided with a spring 3| engaging with and urging arm 29 toward the path of travel of the pins 21. The movement of arm 29 in this direction is limited by the extension 33 thereof which engages a stationary pin or stop 34 on the slide IS. The arm 29 has a tapered or wedge-shaped end 35 and a pin engaging recess 36 spaced from said end 35' (Fig. 2). As the disc 26 is rotated through a degree are in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 2) by the means described below the pins 21 are successively engaged by the recess 36 in arm 29 which thus holds the turret l2 stationary between its rotational movements with one of the lamps M in position to be moved into and out of the reflector.

The rotation of the disc 26 and therewith the turret 12 to change a lamp in reflector I0 is effected by moving slide IS in guide i6 away from reflector N to cause a pin 21 to engage an arm 31 mounted on the guide IS. The arm 31 is offset from the axis of rotation of disc 26 so that a turning moment is exerted on the latter to rotate lamp holder H as the movement of slide i5 in I on the guide I6 stop 42 to limit its rotational movement in the direction away from reflector II). The arm 31 is urged in this direction by a spring 43 fastened to the arm 31 and the pivot post 4I. Thus, arm 31 is normally held by spring 43 and stop 42 in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 while turret I2 is moved away from reflector I but may be moved toward the reflector II) to permit a pin 21 to pass by without turning disc 26 as turret I2 is moved back toward reflector I0. The free end of arm 31 is beveled as shown to facilitate such passing of a pin 21.

When the turret I2 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 the lamp I4 enclosed by the reflector I0 from guide I6 extends from contact along guide I6 and passes through opening 49 into battery case I1 for connection with one terminal of a battery of cells (not shown) disposed in said case I1. Spring contacts 50, 5I and 52 are secured to the case I1 and are arranged to support and connect two cells in series. The conductor 41 is connected to the contact 50, contact 5 I engages the positive terminal of one cell and the negative terminal of the other cell to connect the cells in series. Both of said contacts 50 and 5I and conductor 41 are electrically insulated from the case I1 and contact 52 is electrically connected to said case I1. A plurality of terminal buttons or sockets 53 and 54 are provided on the case I1. Two of the sockets may be used for accommodating the ends of electrical conductors of a switch for making and breaking the circuit including the battery in case I1 and contacts 44 and 45 and thus controlling the ignition of the lamp I4 connected across said contacts 44 and 45. The other sockets may be used for connecting other photofiash lamps in parallel with that in reflector III in the conventional manner. A conventional manually or automatically controlled switch may be used for controlling lamp ignition so that the flash of the lamp may be synchronized with the opening of the camera shutter. One group of sockets 53 is connected to contact 52 and the other group of sockets 54 is electrically connected to the contact 50.

The lamp holder I3 comprises four lamp accommodating sockets 55 facing in four different directions as shown in Fig. 5. One socket is i of the turret I2 and cavities cuiar, free end and secured at the opposite end to the bottom of the spring fingers 6I which form a continuous cuwshaped surface which, in turn is secured to an electrical conductor 61. portion of conductor 61 is bent over the other end of the member 68. Contact 63 is spaced from the other electrically conducting members oi the socket except conductor 65. Conductor spaced from conductor 61 to prevent short circuits between these elements. When the socket is mounted in the holder I3 the bent-over portions of conductors 65 and 61 are exposed for engagement with circuit contacts 44 and 45 on reflector I0 as shown in Fig. 1.

The holder I3 has an aperture or passage 68 therethrough for accommodating the spindle 22 H for accommodatpin 21 on disc 26. The holder I3 is hollow and is separable into two parts along the line 10 of Fig. 1 which parts are held together by removable bolts 69 (Fig. 5). The conductors ing part 28 of (Figs. 1,

with slight modification, be used in apparatus 1943, issued as tion.

vided with bayonet type bases may be used, if slightly modified, as part of the turret I2 of this application.

The lamps I4 are of the type disclosed in the Fulton and Foote application identified above and comprise beads of combustible material, such as those disclosed and claimed in the Pipkin Patent #2,291,983, issued August 4, 1942, supported in the bulb by a pair of current inleads which are bridged by an incandescible filament in contact with the said beads to ignite the latter. The lamps l4 are filled with a combustion supporting atmosphere, such as oxygen or air, at atmospheric pressure or lower and, when ignited, emit actinic radiation useful in taking photographs. A filter or screen 13 held by clips 14 over the mouth of the reflector l0 may be used to filter out or absorb radiation of certain wave lengths. For example, screen 13 may absorb substantially all of the visible light and transmit only infrared rays for picture taking purposes or screen l3 may be removed entirely from reflector I ll to make available all of the radiation emitted by lamp I l.

The holder I3 is claimed in the copending divisional application Serial No. 669,144, filed May 11, 1946, of Edward B. Noel.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A portable multiple flash lamp device comprising a support, a concave reflector aflixed thereto for enclosing a flash lamp and having an opening spaced from its mouth for flash lamp replacements, stationary contacts of an ignition circuit for said lamps permanently juxtaposed to said reflector opening, and lamp replacement means mounted for reciprocation on said support in alignment with said opening to project and retract a lamp therethrough, said means comprising a rotatable spindle normal to the path of movement of said means, a lamp holder thereon radially supporting a plurality of lamps about said spindle and in a plane normal thereto and having contacts arranged in pairs for connecting a lamp in the reflector across the ignition circuit contacts, interlocking engagement means on said spindle and said holder for causing rotation of the holder on rotation of the spindle and means on said replacement means and said support for rotating said spindle an angular distance sufficient to bring successive lamps into alignment with the reflector opening on reciprocation of the lamp replacement means.

2. A portable multiple flash lamp device comprising a support, a concave reflector affixed thereto for enclosing a flash lamp and having an opening spaced from its mouth for flash lamp replacements, stationary contacts of an ignition circuit for said lamps mounted on said reflector and permanently juxtaposed to said reflector opening, and lamp replacement means slidably mounted for reciprocation on said support in alignment with said opening to project and retract a lamp therethrough, said means comprising a rotatable spindle normal to the path of movement of said means, a lamp holder thereon radially supporting a plurality of lamps about said spindle and in a plane normal thereto and having contacts arranged in pairs for connecting a lamp in the reflector across the ignition circuit contacts, interlocking engagement means on said spindle and said holder for causingrotation of the holder on rotation of the spindle and means on said replacement means and said support for rotating said spindle an angular distance sufiicient to bring successive lamps into alignment with the reflector opening on reciprocation of the lamp replacement means.

3. A portable multiple flash lamp device comprising a support, a concave reflector afiixed thereto for enclosing a flash lamp and having an opening spaced from its mouth for flash lamp replacement and lamp replacement means on said support for projecting and retracting a lamp through said opening, said means comprising a lamp holder having a central passage and a plurality of lamp sockets radially disposed about said passage and in a common plane normal thereto, a supporting spindle therefor extending through said passage and provided with means including a spring wedge at its end for clamping said holder thereon and having afixed thereto a coaxial disc provided with pins extending parallel to the spindle with one pin projecting into the holder for rotating the holder on rotation of the spindle, a slide member mounted for reciprocation on said support member with respect to said reflector opening and carrying said spindle, said spindle being mounted for rotation on said slide member and normal to its path of travel, and indexing means on. said slide member comprising a spring pressed arm engaging one of said pins for aligning a lamp in the holder with the reflector opening and an arm on said support positioned in the path of movement of another of said pins to turn said spindle on retraction of said slide to bring successive lamps in the holder sockets into alignment with said reflector opening.

EDWARD B. NOEL. AUGUST W. SEITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,758,166 Miller May 13, 1939 1,785,950 Giannattasio Dec. 23, 1930 1,955,616 Wallace Apr. 17, 1984 2,032,515 Troup Mar. 3, 1936 2,244,114 Noir June 3, 1941 2,330,673 Brown Sept. 28, 1943 

